The Parkland Sharks are hoping to create a little more history this season.

They have already qualified for the Edmonton Rugby Union Tier II Senior Men’s playoffs for the first time, but a win next weekend in St. Albert can secure a home date in the first round.

The dream was kept alive with a 55-31 win over the Fort McMurray Knights on Saturday at Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton.

The Sharks got two tries each from Michael Bridgemann, Garrett Miller, while Adam Ashton, Max Grenier, Ryan McCaffrey and Wade Arnott each scored once. Charlie Simmons converted six of those tries and drilled a 30-yard penalty kick.

Head coach Kevin Tuhua, however, was not satisfied with the effort from his side. The end result was good, but they were lacking a killer instinct and kept allowing the Knights back into the match with defensive breakdowns.

“We can’t settle, we can’t be happy with that we have that personnel to go all the way, we just need to get that mental toughness into action more often and quicker than what we have been,” said Tuhua.

After the Sharks built a 15-5 lead at 19:30 of the first half, they allowed two Fort McMurray tries over the final 20 minutes of the first half to take a 17-15 lead into the break.

Parkland rebuilt a 27-17 lead in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but then allowed two tries in two minutes and 47 seconds in the second half on fast breaks to fall behind 31-27.

They did respond a couple of minutes later, forcing a big turnover at mid field that sprung McCaffery for a try and pulled away after that, but Tuhua said they should never have had to be in that position.

“We have a habit of whenever we are playing a team that is not playing that well to drop down and want to make it fair rather than putting our foot on their throat and hammering through,” he said.

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The Parkland Sharks took down the Fort McMurray Knights 55-31 in Edmonton Rugby Union Senior Teir II action at the Ellerslie Rugby Club in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. Josh Aldrich/Reporter/Examiner

The win leaves the Sharks in a tie for second in the division with the Knights at 9-0-2, though the Sharks have a much larger points differential at plus-373 to plus-200 for the Knights. A win over St. Albert on Sept. 7 at noon would clinch second place for Parkland and a home date with the Knights in the first round which will be critical to their advancement in the post season.

This is what Tuhua has been building towards since he came on board three years ago to coach. At the time the Sharks were strictly a third division team. In the first two seasons, the third division team made the city finals while the second division team was done early. This year they put all of their efforts into the higher level club and dropped the third division.

There is still some unfinished business to reach their ultimate goal, a likely showdown with the Grande Prairie Centaurs (10-0-1) for the city title.

“It’s very pleasing, but we’re a couple of games away from where we want to be,” said Tuhua.